Technicians who tested a Toyota Prius after its owner claimed its gas pedal stuck were unable to recreate the same condition, according to a draft congressional memo obtained…by CNN.

In addition, owner Jim Sikes’ claim that the car kept going even though he slammed on the brake while his gas pedal was stuck to the floor does “not appear to be feasibly possible,” said the draft, obtained from sources familiar with the investigation.

The memo, written for members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, summarizes the observations of a representative present at the testing of the Prius, as well as another car “allegedly involved in sudden unintended acceleration events…”

Technicians from Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took Sikes’ Prius on a test drive and attempted to duplicate the same experience, the memo said, but were unsuccessful. A congressional staffer and another Toyota technician tested another Prius.

“Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor, the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down,” the memo said. “NHTSA and Toyota field representatives reported the same results with the 2008 Prius owned by Mr. Sikes.”

These findings certainly raise new questions surrounding the veracity of the sequence of events that has been reported by Mr. Sikes,” said Kurt Bardella, spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, and ranking member on the committee.

There just may be a few concerns about Mr. Sikes’ truthfulness. He’s a bankrupt realtor $700,000 in debt including months behind on payments for his leased Prius. Which I imagine Toyota has threatened to repo.

The bankruptcy statement isn’t clear on how much he makes from his AdultSwingLife website.




  1. bobbo, words are what we think with says:

    Hah, hah. Nice sleaze move.

    “If a car has “intermittent” problems, will that problem appear on any given day/series of testing?”

    Should a promoter of sleaze have any credibility on any issue at all?

    I recall taking my brand new car back to the dealer twice to fix the electrical interference in the radio that perfectly matched the engine rpm. The third time their mechanic listened to the same steady change in pitch that was always there and said: “I don’t hear anything. Sounds just like it is supposed to.”

    So after “no problems here, move along” got delivered, I tried a number of aftermarket noise suppressors and finally found one that worked.

    Regarding defective products===if you ever want to make an issue of it, never return the product to the manufacturer.====And as always, can’t trust the government for anything except a waste of time.

    On balance–yea, never trust anyone on anything who is deeply in debt. It changes their outlook, or more precisely, puts it on focused display.

  2. Bernardino says:

    So, bobbo – unless you conduct the testing, no one else is capable. Right?

    That’s a very small world you live in.

  3. The Warden says:

    Dvorak.com should hire him to post stories on here. He’d fit in nicely with the others who like to distort things on here.

  4. Figures.

    However, remind me when I see a cop about to pull me over for speeding to slam on my gas and brake at the same time and claim unintended acceleration. I bet my old Camry will let me put on just enough brake to turn on the brake lights while still holding down the gas pedal.

    Of course, using cruise control set to a speed low enough not to get pulled over is probably a lot more effective. So, maybe I’ll just stick with that.

  5. sargasso says:

    Deny, discredit, dig the dirt. The three “D”s.

  6. Dr Dodd says:

    The first mistake was to buy a Prius. Sikes was no doubt brainwashed by the Green Hoard into over-paying for this pile of toxic dung.

    Had he gone with the reliable F-Series this could have all been avoided.

  7. bobbo, can't we all just be rational says:

    #2–Bernardino==so, you are proud to be irrational? Or did you just misread, or are you an OEM shill?

    Capable? I assume the same mechanic who heard the static whine the first two times could here the same whine the third time. No, its not “capability” that is at issue. Just as your lack of intelligence/experience/honesty is not at issue here.

    Ooops, thats exactly what is at issue here. Pick your poison.

  8. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    I didn’t listen to the entire 911 tape (who would??) but the little bit I heard on a TV report contained an instruction from the 911 op to put the car in neutral….and he didn’t appear to hear it. Maybe he was ignoring it? This is a conspiracy theory with legs.

  9. omnicbex says:

    As I said in the last board, the word of the day is ‘convienience’. A little too much so.

  10. The Farmer says:

    “The memo said that before Sikes’ vehicle could be tested, technicians had to replace rotors, brakes and pads, because the pads and rotors were worn down.”

    Hmm, strange. Is it a scam? We may never know, unless Mr. Sikes actually admits to it. With the amount of computer power cars have, I want to know what the computer logs indicate was happening.

  11. denacron says:

    Here is how to stop your Prius.

    http://tinyurl.com/ydj5d97

    ^^The language is very strong for those at work or of tender bent. NSFW

  12. ramuno says:

    No surprise here. The Prius is one of the few cars that has a brake override of the gas petal. When I first heard of this story, I smelled scam.

  13. jescott418 says:

    You know in the 911 call when the operator ask him if he tried to put it in nuetral he avoided answering. Now after close inspection of the brakes they show no sign of a paniced stop? Who did this guy think he was going to fool??

  14. Bob says:

    #13, apparently most of the representitives in Washington DC, and bobbo.

  15. gquaglia says:

    He’s a bankrupt realtor $700,000 in debt including months behind on payments for his leased Prius.

    Need I say more?

  16. Chris Donahue says:

    #1 Your right, the problem never shows up when you have a mechanic look for it.

    The Insurance Institute, other Government Agencies as well as Toyota can’t replicate any of the unintended accelerations, not just his. But his story is real suspicious.

  17. jccalhoun says:

    I think we’ve all had vehicles that were acting weird and then acted fine for the mechanic. However, the whole thing is little more than the latest shark bite scare. Like people getting bitten by sharks, the problems with toyotas are incredibly rare.

  18. bobbo, can't we all just be rational says:

    #14–Bob, my truncated friend==how simple minded can you be. Digital in an analogue world?

    “Imagine”: Toyota has a bet the company exposure based on having safety first quality vehicles. They bragged of stiff arming the USA NTSB requests for safety recalls. Their CEO showed up and apologized for their failure to respond adequately. Video tape of that guy/engineer creating malfunctions that were not recorded by the cars computer nor prevented by software. Evidently ((not totally sure of this–full stomp on break does not disengage the full throttle==thats an announced change to future systems)).

    Then you have a deeply in debt scum bag pornographer claiming his Prius went awry.

    My universe is large enough to include BOTH parties acting in their perceived short term interest====and I get there without misconstruing anything anyone has posted.

    Try it, you might like it.

  19. MikeR says:

    In a related story, Dvorak Uncensored is pleased to welcome its latest corporate sponsor: Toyota.

  20. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    #16 Chris…that’s called the technician proximity effect. The problem clears up when the tech/mechanic is nearby. It’s a force we exude, sorry I can’t explain it any better than that.

  21. andrewj says:

    Computers don’t go haywire for people in debt.

  22. yankinwaoz says:

    I listed to John and Adam scoff at this story on Thursday. John claimed it was impossible because the brake would have stopped the car, just like any other car.

    That is where John is wrong. The brake pedal does not push the master brake cylinder. It sends a command to the computer, who uses regenerative braking to conserve energy.

    Yea, the man is dodgy. But the fact that these “experts” can’t reproduce it doesn’t mean he faked it. We need some more time for more info to come out.

  23. KMFIX says:

    There is going to be piles of fraud with Toyota vehicles for a while. Accident claims, computer failures, etc.. And it’s all Toyota’s own fault for not handling their own mistakes.

  24. bill says:

    What’s that smell?
    It’ not the brakes… FAIL!

    I’d buy a TOYOTA…

  25. Skeptic of the AOBCCS says:

    Virtually every new car I’ve bought has had a problem that only I could hear or feel, all of which eventually manifested into more serious problems and failures AFTER warranty. Chrysler was the worst.

    So unless Toyota takes the car’s computer and puts it through a serious bench test… they’ve done nothing to assure me of anything.

    It may be a scam… maybe not.

  26. Buzz says:

    Two leading possibilities:

    1. There’s nothing at all wrong with the car and the guy is a republican, so of course he is making a Big Stink about nothing.

    2. Whatever is wrong with the car is a bug in its software, and we all know those have not been allowed into computers since 1983.

    Simple.

  27. Norman Speight says:

    Look. I’m just a dopey old coot of 75+ and I used to be an engineer (lecturer in the subject at University) but I’m currently working on just one brain cell so I need clever people to tell me this.
    WTF is wrong with just turning off the key? Or, can’t you do this on Toyotas.
    Personally I drive a Jaguar, goes like hell, as reliable as a tax collector and, if I turn the key, behold! the engine stops. Is this not the case with these Japanese semi-electrical pieces of shit?
    I really don’t know.

  28. The0ne says:

    Yea, I’m all for Toyota or anyone else to elaborate in detail their vehicles. I’m sure many are smart enough to understand what is going on. And while we’re at it, we should all be discussing about dark matter and quantum theories.

  29. Father says:

    I hadn’t believed Sikes from day one. His apologists are even less credible.


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